AT&T’s buy of T-Mobile has gotten unprecedented support from groups representing minorities, from the NAACP to various Hispanic groups to the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council. If all politics is local, it also has a long memory. Some observers see the support as tied in part to a 1970 FCC consent decree in which AT&T agreed to become more proactive in employing minorities. AT&T has also contributed millions of dollars to minority groups over the years, though the company said that’s not different from contributions made by its large competitors.
The FCC shouldn’t get bogged down in questions of how to classify text messaging for Universal Service Fund contributions or any other piecemeal approach to universal service contribution reform, USTelecom warned the commission in comments posted to docket 06-122 and released Tuesday. “Universal service contribution issues need to be addressed in a comprehensive proceeding, not through ad hoc proceedings, such as those for which the Commission requests comment here,” USTelecom executives David Cohen and Jonathan Banks wrote in their comments.
The price of public safety legislation is a major concern for Senate Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Jim DeMint, R-S.C., going into Wednesday’s markup of S-911 in the Senate Commerce Committee. While the bill by Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, promises to send $10 billion to the U.S. Treasury, the bill’s cost could be an issue for other budget hawks as well, telecom industry lobbyists said. Meanwhile, public safety pushed back against a campaign to add language requiring interoperability across the 700 MHz band.
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Netflix is expanding its Washington presence. The company is looking for a “director of government relations,” according to its website. It’s a “highly visible role in the legal department” that “is fundamental to the continued success and growth of the company,” the company said in the job ad. “The position will involve advocating before foreign agencies, Congress and federal agencies with a particular emphasis on the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission, and developing analysis and interpretation of public policy issues potentially impacting the Company.” The company has tried to keep a low profile, but many in the industry believe that Netflix is an emerging power in Washington lobbying (CD Nov 15 p6). “We're a growing company. And a growing company needs staff,” spokesman Steve Swasey said Monday. Last fall, Netflix hired veteran lobbyist Michael Drobac to run its new Washington shop. But the company has filed one ex parte notice with the FCC since the beginning of the year, commission records show.
TORONTO -- The major Canadian wireless carriers continued to fight late last week over the government’s upcoming 700 MHz spectrum auction, as Bell Canada and Telus came out strongly for an open auction with no restrictions while Globalive pushed for a full spectrum set-aside for newer entrants. In dueling speeches and sessions at the Canadian Telecom Summit, executives of the three companies made their cases, joining officials from Rogers Communications and Videotron, who presented their arguments earlier in the conference.
The beta version of FCC’s new website is almost impossible to use and emphasizes style over substance, said numerous posts in a comments section posted by the commission. Industry lawyers and other users told us they continue to click a button on the agency’s new homepage to get to the old one, because they find the new site difficult to navigate. The beta was unveiled in April (CD April 6 p9) but lacks all documents that are on what’s now the old homepage.
The House Commerce Committee is content to let the FCC take a first run at the Universal Service Fund overhaul, a committee spokeswoman told us Friday. “We are waiting to see what the FCC decides to do before we make a decision on whether legislation is necessary,” the spokeswoman said. Congress’ tacit approval of the FCC’s reform schedule had been expected (CD Feb 8 p1) but Friday’s statement comes amidst a blitz by rural telcos trying to get the Hill to intervene in the USF proceedings (CD May 25 p8). On the Senate side, Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va. has said D-block legislation is his “highest priority” (CD Feb 17 p4).
The Senate Commerce Committee filed the bipartisan substitute amendment for the Senate spectrum bill by Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas. The 119-page amendment will be used as the base bill when the committee marks up S-911, a Senate aide said. The committee scheduled a June 8 markup, but no agenda has been announced, the aide said. Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., said he supports the latest version of the bill. Committee Republicans met to discuss the bill Wednesday afternoon, a GOP aide said.
The FCC has tallied, at our deadline, nearly 36,000 comments on AT&T’s proposed buy of T-Mobile, mostly short, from hard to verify sources, but overwhelmingly opposed to the deal. But numerous groups and companies also filed, sending a mixed message to the commission, with groups like the Media Access Project and the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council taking opposing views (CD June 1 p1). AT&T said support for the merger is growing.